The next morning...

"Have you found anything good yet, Fizzle?" You ask, popping a flare stick as you drop it and continue your work, shoving away some very loose rocks with your hands, hoping to find some gems, but only to be met with disappointment. You look back at the adorable pink dragon, who's also looking around, but with no luck either.

"N-no... I swear, they're supposed to be more common around here! A-at least from what I heard Garble say a while back..."

You sigh and shake your head, "Maybe the other dragons got to it first. That, or Garble's just a complete retard."

"Most likely the latter, if you ask me." You say with a smirk, which makes Fizzle giggle, pleasantly surprising you.

He's been a lot more open and talkative ever since last night. You expected the complete opposite though, after what you two did last night. Still stutters and blushes a lot of course, but that's a given. Not like you minded anyway.

You and Fizzle were inside the cave that was just a couple yards away from your camp, looking for some gems. Although Fizz enjoyed the food you were sharing with him, he still craved gems, and explained earlier in the morning that dragons need to eat at least one gem every couple of days in order to keep their fire-breathing abilities in top shape.

Of course, doing something like this was technically illegal and could land you a court martial, but at this point, where you're on the verge of leaving the Guards and have an effeminate dragon as your boyfriend, you really couldn't care less.

Plus, it didn't help that Fizzle's pouting face made it verbally and mentally impossible to say no, but that's beside the point.

So here you were, looking for gems in an unknown cave with little climbing gear. At least Fizzle's here to watch your back.

You slowly climb down a small ledge as you point your flashlight at the cave wall, finding nothing worthwhile as you sigh and begin to climb back up.

"Ugh... I don't know Fizzy, there doesn't seem to be any gems whatsoever here. Maybe it was already picked clean? We can try somewhere else if you'd li-"

"I-I found one!"

You look over and see Fizzle's tail poking out of an indent in the cave, wagging excitedly as you walk over to him.

"Wow, seriously? I didn't know they were that hidden. Sorry about that, Fizz. Guess I'm not really cut out for gem mining." You chuckles, taking a glance or two at the albino dragon's tail and rear.

"I-it's okay, Anon! I'm just happy that you were willing to help me and all~"

"C-could you... uhm... pull me out of here, please? I-I can't pull out the gem by myself..."

You shake your head with a smile and comply, getting behind Fizzle and placing your hands on his hips. He freezes up a little and his tail straightens upwards. You feel his rear press against you comfortably, but you try your best to ignore that for now.

"One... Two... Three!" You say, beginning to pull Fizzle back with all if your strength. You hear him let out a squeak as you grunt and begin to hear the gem crack.

After a couple more pulls, the gem finally breaks free from the rock, launching you and Fizzle back. You land on your back and Fizzle lands on your body, knocking the wind out of you. As small as Fizzle was compared to a normal dragon, he was heavier than he let on.

Fizzle gasps and smiles as he stares at his newly acquired gem, saying how pretty and sleek it looks. You cough and take some deep, ragged breaths, "U-ugh... hah... I'm happy that I helped you Fizzy... b-but could you get off me please?"

He gasps and quickly scatters off of you, "O-oh gods! S-sorry Anon! A-a-are you okay...?" He asks as he looks at you up and down with worry. You chuckle a bit weakly and nod your head.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Wind was knocked out of me is all, don't worry." You try to reassure the dragon, sitting up and groaning a little bit.

Fizzle looks to the side with a guiltful look on his face. You sit up and reach over to your adorable little dragon, pulling him close and nuzzling his cheek before giving him a reassuring kiss.

The guiltful look on his face is almost immediately replaced by a shy, happy smile and a fierce blush. He wraps a wing around you and leans his head against your shoulder.

"Y... you make me so happy...~" Fizzle softly whispers, giving you a nuzzle.

You smile and rest your head above his, "I'll do anything to make my best dragon happy."

You feel his ears twitch and his head move out from under you as he looks up at you. You look down at him, your smile never fading as he softly and lovingly kisses you, whimpering happily as he does. You return the kiss with equal love and gentleness.

After breaking the kiss, you both sit there and cuddle together in peaceful silence for a while, until you ask your Fizz a question.

"Mind if I see the gem you were able to get?"

He nods and happily hands it to you to see up close. You inspect it and squint your eyes a little bit, "Hmm... kind of looks like Vibranium."

"Wh... what's Vi...branium?" He asks, looking up at you and tilting his head to the side.

You chuckle a little bit and shake your head, "It's nothing important, all that matters is that you got the gem and get to enjoy it."

You hand him the gem back and he giggles, taking it back and going back to nuzzling you. You wrap your arms around his waist and stomach, giving him a squeeze.

After a few minutes of further silence, Fizzle softly speaks up, "S... so Anon... I... uh... W-when are you going back to Canterlot...?" He asks with a hint of worry.

You think for a moment, before your eyes widen and you mentally curse yourself. You glance at your watch and it confirms the worst. Have you really lost track of time that fast? You softly sigh and answer his question.

"Today."

"W-w-what?!"

You nod and look down as Fizzle looks at you in shock. He slowly looks down as well as a look of sadness forms on his face. He then nuzzles into your shoulder, remaining silent for quite a while, until you feel the spot that Fizzle's nuzzling become wet. You then hear a small sniffle that makes you look down at your dragon.

Although most of his face is hidden, you can still easily tell that he's silently crying to himself, letting out a very faint whimper on occasion. You feel absolutely pained by looking at Fizzle like this, feeling a part of you die when you see him like this.

You gently put your hand under his chin and slowly lift up his face, forcing him to look up at you. He does so, his eyes watery and more red than usual, a look of terrible sadness on his face as he whimpers a bit louder.

"I-I don't w-w-want you to g-go..." He softly whimpers, sniffling a bit, "I... I d-don't want to be a-a-alone...I won't be a-able to d-defend for m-myself... n-now that I can't g-go back to the B-Badlands... I won't h-have anywhere to g-go if you... leave..."

You suddenly feel yourself smiling, before you begin to chuckle softly, much to Fizzle's horrored look, then confusion.

"Wh...wh-why a-are you laughing... A-Anon..." He very timidly asks, feeling quite hurt.

Quickly composing yourself, you softly brush away some of the tears on his cheeks with your thumb, smiling lovingly at the albino dragon before you as you begin to explain yourself, "Hah... I-I'm laughing because you actually think that I'm gonna leave you behind, Fizzle." You whisper softly. He still looks somewhat confused, although a glimmer of hope does shine in his eyes as you continue.

"I can't stay and live the rest of my life here of course... but neither can you, Fizzy. I have absolutely no intentions of leaving you behind to fend for yourself. Especially after everything we've been through this past week."

"You're coming back with me, one way or another."

Fizzle slowly smiles, until he grins happily and lets out a choked sob, hugging you so tightly with his wings and arms, that you feel yourself suffocating a bit in his hold. You smile and hug him back as hard as you can as well, being careful with his wings and softly nuzzling him as Fizzle begins to let out sobs of relief and sounds of happiness.

"I-I-I'm so sorry A-Anon! I-I should've k-known b-better than t-to think y-you'd leave m-me behind... I was j-j-just so- mmmhf~?!"

You quickly plant your lips on Fizzle's and deeply kiss him, shutting him up much to his surprise as he slowly returns the kiss.

After almost a minute, you break the kiss and shake your head, nuzzling your nose against Fizzle's, "You worry too much, silly~" You whisper.

"S-sorry...~" Fizzle blushes deeply, but you just hold him close and begin to softly make out with him.

As both of your tongues begin to touch and playfully wrestle for dominance, you both suddenly hear the sound of flapping wings and muffled talking.

Fizzle breaks the kiss very quickly and gasps, looking at where the muffled voices are coming from. Although you can't make out what's being said, Fizzle has much better hearing than you, and informs you on who it is inside the cave.

"I-it's G-G-Garble... a-and two others..!" He stutters as quietly as he can, despite his fear. You nod and quickly stand up, making sure to be quiet. You put Fizzle's gem inside of your pack and hide behind some large, serrated rocks, which cuts a bit of your arm as you hop over, hissing in pain as you watch Fizzle hide behind some boulders further down.

You put a finger to your mouth to motion him to stay quiet. Although visibly shaking, he nods and his ears fold down. You hear the voices get louder and more clearer.

"-amp site. They've gotta be around here somewhere!"

"Then shut your mouth, retard! If you really think they're in here, then don't let them know! Ugh, you guys are almost as useless as Fizz sometimes, I swear."

You slowly slide your shotgun out of the holster on your back and quietly fold the stock, as well as taking off the safety.

"Speaking of which..." Garble begins to sniff around the place as he gets closer to both of you. He squints his eyes as he looks around the cave.

"He's been here before. I can tell." He then turns around two the other dragons, "Look through every fucking crack and crevice for any clues."

You see through the corner of your eye that Fizzle is curled up in a ball, shaking more than before. You bare your teeth at the sight of Garble and the other dragons, trying to move a little bit closer to Fizzle.

"When I find that faggot, maybe the Wyverns will leave us alone for a while."

"What about that weird looking monkey thing?" Asked the obese looking dragon.

"Even better. Wyverns have... uh... damn, what's that word?"

"Weird?"

"Unique?"

"No, no! Similar, but... oh! Ex-quizit tastes."

"Uh... I don't think-"

"Shut up! Point is, he'll be dead and that's that. Have you idiots found anything?"

"Not yet... how long are we gonna stay here?"

"Until the train at the Royal Guards station leaves for the evening. That'll be the perfect time to sabotage the station."

"Sabotage the station...?" You think to yourself as you hear them continue.

"How much time do you think it'll give us? Once the ponies leave and stuff?"

Garble kicks over a few rocks and looks over them, "More than enough time to do what the Dragon Lord will never do." He chuckles darkly and looks down at the ground, smirking.

"See these prints? Looks like Fizz and the monkey were here before..."

"I don't see any hooves... Heh. I guess Vex did some good damage on that pony Guard."

"Remind me to reward him for that..." Garble mutters, walking closer and closer to where Fizzle is. He's looking at you, pleading for you to do something.

Gripping your shotgun, you nod and quietly exhale. Garble and the other two are closing in on Fizzle's hiding spot.
-But just before you could do anything, a very loud crack echoes through the cave, followed by a thud.

"The fuck was that?!" Garble yells, covering one ear and baring his teeth.

"I-I don't know!" Yelled the obese dragon.

"Maybe it was Fizz and the other thing!"

"Then what are you waiting for! MOVE!"

The dragons quickly scurry out of the cave, followed by the sound of rapidly flapping wings. You sigh heavily and quickly but quietly move over to Fizzle, who quickly sits up and hugs you, sniffing and on the verge of tears.

"A-A-Anon... I-I was so... sc-scared..." He whimpers into your chest and nuzzles, his wings wrapping around you tightly. You softly shush him and kiss his head, rubbing his back and hair.

"Shhh... it's gonna be alright, Fizzle... Just take a few deep breaths, okay?" You say softly, comforting him greatly.

You both stay there quietly for about five minutes, just in case. You were ready to pull out your shotgun the moment you hear their voices again.

"Wh-what was the noise outside...?"

"I have no idea." You shake your head, "a tree most likely. But whatever it was, it gave us the best opportunity to leave once and for all. Hopefully head back to base camp before sundown if we go now."

Fizzle looks quite nervous when you say this, "W-won't they lock me up or something...?"

You shake your head, "I can't let those three fucks get away with whatever they plan on doing no matter what. I'll make up some sort of excuse to the Commander about you."

You kiss Fizzle and softly reassure him, "I promise I won't let any harm come to you. Okay?"

He nods, having complete faith in your words as you both begin to rush out of the cave. As you both approach the exit of the cave, you begin to reload some of your 12 gauge shells into your shotgun, not wanting to take any chances during the hike back.

As you both exit the cave, you see that your campsite is in complete shambles. Either torched or scratched up to bits. Fortunately, most of your important stuff was inside the pack you took into the cave.

Fizzle gasps and points out to the ruined campsite, "A-Anon... the... the camp..."

You acknowledge this, but continue on beyond the camp, ignoring whatever remains, "I know, but it's not important right now. We have to get back to base camp before it gets late."

You look up at the sky and mutter, "Let's go before they come back."

Author's Note

Here is the next chapter (Finally!) I hope you all can forgive my absence, I've had some personal stuff to really focus on (as well as having a bit of time to myself on how I should end off this story) but I should be all good now. I know exactly what I wanna do. A bit of a filler chapter, but I just wanted to save the more interesting parts for the final chapter.

(I promise it won't take as long as it did for this one, I swear. )